1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bogie for railway vehicle and to a process for manufacturing such a bogie.
2. History of the Related Art
A railway vehicle bogie is intended to support a vehicle, such as a box body or rail car, abutting on a plurality of wheels distributed on axles.
Taking into account the masses of the box bodies or rail cars and their speed of displacement, the forces due to accelerations of this stock, particularly during changes of direction, are considerable, with the result that it is usual to produce bogies in the form of massive parts made of steel or of welded structures. These massive parts and welded structures have a fixed configuration as from design, with the result that they cannot be adapted, during manufacture, to the conditions of use of the bogies.
Now, the wheel base of the bogie, the height of the box body, the track width and the load on the axle are parameters which vary from one bogie to another which must be taken into account during design. In practice, there is a tendency to overdimension the bogies to allow them to withstand the forces undergone in all the configurations, which increases the cost of the bogies and their rigidity, which must be compensated by suspension and damping systems adapted to ensure comfort for passengers or the absorption of the vibrations due to the irregularities of the tracks on which the stock travels.
European Patent Application 0 031 008 discloses a railway vehicle bogie comprising H-shaped webs made of composite material. These webs have a cross-section and length defined from casting, with the result that they cannot be adapted to the conditions of use of each bogie.
It is a particular object of the present invention to overcome these drawbacks by proposing a bogie which may be adapted to its conditions of use, including during manufacture and even at the end of manufacture thereof.